# NTSB ANC00LA020: Cessna 185, N70021, Chenega Bay, AK, December 23, 1999 - Type: NTSB accident investigation - Classification: Accident · No injuries · Limited investigation · Final report - Date: December 23, 1999, 10:45 local (14:45 UTC) - Place: Chenega Bay, AK - Coordinates: 60.789142, -145.60971 (estimated) - Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=60.7891&lon=-145.6097&mi=10 - Phase of flight: [Takeoff](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-phases/300) (OpenAirDocs' grouping) - Highest injury: No injuries - Injuries: 3 uninjured - Status: Completed, report May 9, 2001 - Report: Approved by Office Director - NTSB office: Alaska Regional Office - NTSB case key (mKey): 48455 - NTSB case page: https://web.ntsb.gov/investigations/?ntsbnumber=ANC00LA020 - NTSB report (PDF, downloads): https://data.ntsb.gov/carol-repgen/api/Aviation/ReportMain/GenerateNewestReport/48455/pdf - Page: https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/ANC00LA020 ## Probable cause The pilot's selection of an unsuitable takeoff area during the incoming tide. Factors associated with the accident were the incoming tide wave, and the pressure induced by the delays encountered picking up the passengers. ## Sequence of events In NTSB's coding before 2008 (https://www.ntsb.gov/GILS/Documents/codman.pdf). - On ground/water encounter with terrain/water, takeoff - roll/run - unsuitable terrain or takeoff/landing/taxi area - selected, pilot in command (cause) - pressure induced by conditions/events, pilot in command (contributing factor) - terrain condition - large wave/swell (contributing factor) - Nose over, takeoff - roll/run ## Analysis The air taxi pilot was picking up two passengers from a remote beach site. The flight had been delayed for five days due to bad weather. The accident flight takeoff was attempted during an incoming tide. During the takeoff roll, a wave washed across the beach in front of the airplane. The pilot wrote in his NTSB Pilot/Operator Report that he was 'too slow to fly, and too fast to stop.' He said he rotated the airplane off the ground and applied additional flaps in an attempt to takeoff over the water. The airplane settled, the wheels contacted the water, and the airplane nosed over. ## Factual narrative On December 23, 1999, about 1045 Alaska standard time, a tundra tire equipped Cessna 185 airplane, N70021, sustained substantial damage when it nosed over during takeoff from an off airport beach on Montague Island, Alaska, at 59 degrees 55 minutes north latitude, 147 degrees 30 minutes west longitude. The commercial pilot, and the two passengers on board were not injured. The flight was operated by Bear Lake Air Service, of Seward, Alaska, under 14 CFR Part 135. The on-demand air taxi flight was returning the two passengers to Seward from a hunting cabin. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident, and a company VFR flight plan was filed. The owner of the company, and the accident pilot, both told the NTSB investigator-in-charge (IIC) that the retrieval of the passengers had been delayed for five days due to bad weather. Both men told the IIC that they were concerned that if the passengers were not picked up, and the weather deteriorated, it could again be several days before they could be retrieved. During a telephone interview with the NTSB IIC on December 23, the pilot of a second company airplane, who was in the area when the accident occurred, and was in communication with the accident pilot, said winds were light and variable, and the tide was coming in. When the accident pilot had not reported airborne to him 10 minutes after he said he was taking off, the reporting pilot returned and saw the airplane inverted in the surf. He related that all three occupants were out of the airplane, and had returned to the cabin for shelter. The pilot wrote in his NTSB Pilot/Operator Report, that he waited on the ground about 45 minutes for the passengers to collect their equipment. He said the incoming tide was to be very high, but he estimated the available beach to be 50 feet wide when he began his takeoff roll. According to the pilot, an incoming wave washed over the takeoff area in front of the airplane. He wrote that the airplane was "too slow to fly, and too fast to stop." He indicated he rotated the airplane off the ground and applied more flaps in an attempt to takeoff over the incoming water. The airplane settled, the wheels contacted the water, and the airplane nosed over. ## Aircraft - Registration: [N70021](https://openairdocs.org/deregistered/N70021-2001-09-25), registration cancelled 2001-09-25, S/N 18501896 (OpenAirDocs) - Reported make and model: Cessna 185 - Registry model: [Cessna A185E](https://openairdocs.org/model/cessna-a185e) (registry code 2072818) (OpenAirDocs) - Category: Airplane - Serial number: 18501896 - Airframe hours: 2902 - Engines: Continental IO-520D 300 horsepower reciprocating - Damage: Substantial damage - Flight: Part 135 - Operator: Dennis Perry, doing business as Bear Lake Air Service - Registered owner: Manufactured Homes Of Ak, Inc. - Airworthiness certificate: Standard, Normal - Last inspection: 100 hour, November 18, 1999, 6 hours before - Departed: MONTAGUE ISLAND, AK - Destination: SWD, SEWARD, AK - Flight plan: Company VFR ## Flight crew As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names. - Pilot; age 36; commercial, flight instructor; airplane ratings: single-engine land, multi-engine land; instrument ratings: airplane; medical: class 1, valid medical--no waivers/lim.; seat: left; flight hours: 965 total, 150 in this make and model, 900 as pilot in command, 80 in the last 90 days, 45 in the last 30 days, 2 in the last 24 hours ## Weather - Conditions: Visual (VMC), Day - Wind: calm - Visibility: 10 statute miles - Lowest ceiling: none - Temperature: 25 °F ## FAA reports on this event (1) The FAA's own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date (OpenAirDocs). - [Accident 19991223046649A](https://openairdocs.org/incident/19991223046649A), Dec 23, 1999: Cessna 185, Seward, AK, No damage. (-23) On December 23, 1999, at 10:30 Alaska daylight time, a Cessna 185, N70021, sustained substantial damage when it nosed over during take off from an off… ## Other investigations on N70021 (1) From the NTSB's public API. Aircraft are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported serial number, make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model. - [NTSB ANC86LA135](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/ANC86LA135), Aug 23, 1986: Cessna A-185E (N70021), Talkeetna, AK, substantial damage From the NTSB's public API. Aircraft are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported serial number, make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model. --- OpenAirDocs.org is an independent research project of [Contrail Labs](https://contraillabs.com/). It is not affiliated with the FAA or the NTSB. Source documents are U.S. government works in the public domain.